Pedantic Semantics
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If you're thinking about coming to Ukraine but weren't sure whether to head to Kiev or Kyiv, let us make things a little simpler for you. Both Kiev and Kyiv are of course referring to the one and same capital city of this great nation!
How did the confusion arise? Well Kiev is the recognised transliteration of the name of the city in Russian, and also the old Ukrainian name which has been used for centuries (by the likes of national hero, Taras Shevchenko, no less) right back to the times of Kievan Rus. Kyiv meanwhile is the transliteration of the modern Ukrainian name of the city and the official name as far as all legal and political issues are concerned. Following the establishment of an independent Ukraine in 1991, there was a move by many Ukrainians to favour Kyiv as it symbolised a departure from all things Russian, and indeed Kyiv is now used by the UN and many other official bodies as the correct name.
Why have we at Local Life chosen to stick with the old moniker? Well simply because, like it or not, most English speakers are still far more familiar with the old Russian name than the modern Ukrainian one. Besides which the English language has a great tradition of ignoring the local lingo and coming up with it's own, easier to pronounce, anglicised versions of place names. Think Florence instead of Firenze, Moscow instead of Moskva, Prague instead of Praha, Ljubljana instead of... Oh dear, the argument falls down a bit there, but you get our point!
Indeed the long and short of it is that we don't care whether you refer to this great city as Kiev or Kyiv, we only hope you find our internet guide a valuable resource and that you have a fantastic stay in Kyyiv... Ooops - forgot to tell you about that one!
Comments
I liked your explanation.Thanks. My friend and I questioned that it may be the same city as Kiev? LO and behold, you have made us smile .
ReplyHorsesh*t reasoning
ReplyFlorence instead of Firenze:)))) Clearly you are an "expert"
ReplyRight on! We should stick with Kiev, just as we use "Danube" for the river which is called something else by all the countries through which it flows. What makes Ukraine so special?
ReplyWhat a bullshit? Don't you know that in Kiev everybody speak russian and says Kiev?
Reply“Everyone” speaks Russian? That comment is the only “bullshit” here. In English, btw, we don’t say “a” bullshit. It’s just “what bullshit” (no “a”). Truth is most commonly speak Russian but many (if not all) also speak native tongue Ukrainian - more so now than ever - given The Dictator Putin’s recent acts to gather troops at border and pose threat to invade.
ReplyOk Putin, I mean "Vasili"
ReplyThis is very helpful. I recently saw Kyiv in the newspapers and thought, where the heck is this place. Now I know that this is the preferred spelling I can adjust for my ignorance.
ReplyI was going to visit but now so frightened I might offend someone I think I'll stay at home
ReplyMay I also call you Donkan - this way your name sounds the way Russians would pronounce it. I hope you get my point
ReplyI love Ukraine with my heart
Reply"Kyiv" - official, correct and it is used in Kyiv everywhere.
ReplyKiev speaks Russian. Ukrainian is mostly spoken in rural areas.
ReplyIf the person says "I'm from Kyiv", that means he or she's originally not. Kievans in most cases would say Kiev.
ReplyDunkan dear, do you still say Pei ping? Why not Amerika, come to think of it. Kyiv comes from the Scandinavian way back and certainly never had the Ki -EF pronunciation that the governments of our Russian brothers and sisters use. Olga (Bulgarian pronuncian)
ReplyReligion
ReplyPlease use only Kyiv. Thank you.
ReplyIt's "Kyiv" for a correct transliteration.... Please use Kyiv instead Kiev (old way)...
ReplyRetarded fucking nationalists. it's kiev get over it
ReplyKyiv, of course :)
Reply"Kiev is .. the old Ukrainian name which has been used for centuries" it' wrong. The old name was "Kyev"
ReplyI am supporting ukrainian pronouncing and transliteration (Kyiv), because it's a part of decolonisation process. Many years Ukraine was a part of Russian Empire and until 1900's even hasn't academic accepted rules of language! Until 1990's they haven't freedom and sovereignty. It's very young country and nation. Very young. Now time for Ukraine to go independently and it will be just respectfully to all ukrainians to name Kiev as "Kyiv".
ReplyIt shows respect once you know how to pronounce it correctly. Put in some effort, folks. Ukrainians appreciate it ;)
ReplyBack in 2010, Reuters editor Robert Bessler responded to a reader's query about the spelling. "Kiev is not the Russian spelling. It is the commonly accepted English language spelling of the name," Bessler explained. "We are not writing in Ukrainian, we are writing in English, so we use commonly understood English names for cities – hence Munich rather than Muenchen, Cologne not Koeln, Rome not Roma, etc."
ReplyMr. Bessler's argument makes no sense when you consider that India and China changed several city names (including the capital of China), Sri Lanka and Myanmar changed their country names, and so on and so forth and the new versions were adopted IN A HEARTBEAT (except for Beijing by the UK press). Nobody said "But oh, Bombay is so much more familiar than Mumbai. Think of all those Bombay Clubs all over the world. And what about Ceylon teas???" They simply respected those countries' right to determine how their names should be in English. The refusal to recognize Kyiv, although everybody's pretty much switched to Lviv, Kharkiv and Odesa, is not only bizarre, it's irrational.
ReplyThank you for this article. Nothing to add. Just hope that english-speaking people gonna pronounce my city is "Kyiv"
ReplyWe in Hungary say Kijev, which is roughly in between kiev and Kyiv :D
Reply"Kijev, which is roughly in between kiev and Kyiv". No, "Kijev" is the same as "Kiev".
ReplyAn interesting discussion. I've been reading the newspapers recently and noticed the name Kiev changed to Kyiv, so I googled it and come across this articie, I feel like to have my 2 cents. As in Chinese, no matter it is Kiev or Kyiv, the transliteration is the same:基輔( pronounced GayFu)
ReplyWhat exactly is the pronunciation in modern Ukrainian then? All of these arguments focus on the spelling, but the spelling in English doesn't exactly determine the pronunciation. I'm assuming then - with British English phonetics - that "Kee Iv" is correct as opposed to "Kee Ev"?
ReplyUkrainian pronounciation is kyee-yiw, where ky is a somewhat y-ish k
ReplyKyiv is pronounced rather like "cave," although to be really correct, it's got two syllables, so it's "Kay-eve."
ReplyKiev is russian speech , Kyiv is ukranian speech. Most people in Kiev say " Kyiv " . When you spell " Kiev " to Ukranian people , most of them dont like to hear like that because it sounds like russian .
ReplyRecently in Ukraine and surprised at vehemence of residents about this pronunciation. Now the English call Deutschland 'Germany', the French call England 'Angleterre' and no one bats an eye. So why are the Ukrainians so stressed about Kiev. The day they pronounce my country AU-STRAY-LEEA and not AV-STRAA-LYA I'll start calling Kiev 'Kyiv'.
ReplyI always pronounced it like you say :D
ReplyOk, then why do we all now say Mumbai, Kolkata, Sri Lanka, Beijing, Myanmar, etc etc? Because that's what those countries requested. RESPECT.
ReplyActually, we have never pronounced it like that(Av-straa-lya). In our language it even sounds ridiculous. Yes AU we pronouns like AV and ending..you're wrong) It's more like Avstraliya. But, you know, Australians have nothong to complain about because , for example , Germany we call Nimechyna and they aren't insulted, btw.
ReplyInteresting! The German transcription should be "Kyjiw" then because "Kiew" is Russian too. Thank you
ReplyNo, because in Germany "y" is pronounced "ü". It should probably be spelled "Kijiew" to be absolutely correctly pronounced, if Germans want to make that change. Ukraine only presented changes in English, as it is the main language of international communication. Ditto Beijing, Sri Lanka and all the other changes.
ReplyFor thousands of years, Ukraine has been under the grasp of different nations, intermittently. These nations include Russia, Poland, Germany, and more. Unfortunately, these years of reign over Ukraine (that rhymes), there have been some preeminant changes in the country, the countries people, and the reputation of the country in outside countries. One of these problems, which are huge if you travel to Kyiv, are the Russians. Unfortunately, not many immigrants from neighboring countries these days, will forget about their native language and customs. Thus, the dilemma of Kyiv v Kiev. In Ukrainian, Київ, can be be pronounced in English [correctly] as-- KYIV. The K is pronounced as heard in "track" (the CK). The Y can be pronounced as heard in "sit" (the I). The I can be pronounced as heard in "tree" (the EE). As for the V, it's pronounced as "vector" (the V). The other spelling- Kiev is in Russian and as a Ukrainian, I can tell when Americans, or any other persone says kEEev as opposed to KyEEv. Unfortunately, there are uneducated people who will always rant on what the correct spelling is (especially the Russians [believe it or not]). Therefore, the CORRECT SPELLING OF THE CAPITAL OF UKRAINE IS "[(KYIV)]". Thank you for reading.
ReplyOld people rarely use the new 'Kyiv' name . They even think the country(Ukraine) is part of Russia!
ReplyOld people where, pray tell. in Russia? What a silly remark.
ReplyOk, what about hearing a native kievite? I am one. This new transliteration holy war is really annoying. I'm Ukrainian, I live in Kiev and I love my city so much. I somehow fear Russia because they are moving towards dictatorship but I hope they will not fight us. Kyiv is a pathetic new English word. You can pronounce the name different ways but the transcription of the name should always be Kiev. Tell Germans to change their Kiew, Polish to say something but Kijow and so on. Do we, Ukrainians should say Landen or Voshinton instead of London and Washington? Keep that in mind and eff politics and politicians.
ReplyOut of all respect for the ideals of Ukraine citizens, wanting to draw a line in the sand and begin a new era of independence, I support the request that we refer to the city as Kyiv.
ReplyKiev has been known for centuries, Kyiv - only since 1991, after Ukrainian nationalists took power. Also you will be surprised, but the city is mostly Russian-speaking, and the governments is fighting it in every possible way. We should not follow this stupidity and help then to spread it out, removing the historical legacy ties of this 1,500-year city. English language is not their business at all. Don't you know that there is no word with the letter combination of kyi and there are words with kie? The bottom line is simple, Ukraine should mind its own, Ukrainian business.
ReplyDear Steve (or you should I say Stepan from Russia)? I live in Ukraine and unfortanutaly haven't noticed any nationalists in the government during all my life (I'm 35 now), so please don't lie to people, and about Kyiv too, because Ukrainian language was founded long time before the russian, cause if you remember the history, we had Kyiv Rus' at the time when Moscow was not even in the project for livinig people.
Replywow, interesting! I hadn't even heard of this correct version of spelling the city's name. I will try to switch from now on! It might start getting confusing if many more cities start changing their spelling in this way too though...
Reply